Sub-Routine: Red Mage

I begrudgingly review Red Mage next not because I don't think that it will be a bad subjob, it will indeed be awesome, but because it is too obviously awesome. I wanted to hit on a couple of the more interesting potential sub jobs before I went too far into the obvious ones. The problem is that I think that most mages really want to know what is coming from RDM and what they are going to expect. And I also think they don't want to hear about another melee sub job. I think that there are actually some other interesting sub jobs for mages, but I do think that RDM is going to be the "go to" sub jobs for a whole lot of jobs once the level cap increases. I will say this, if you have a main mage job and you don't have RDM leveled then you are going to want to do that before anything else. Like right now... why are you still sitting there? Go! NOW!

Convert @ 40.
The quintessential RDM ability... and before Composure was added, the only non-two-hour ability that RDM had. Get an entirely new MP pool for your HP every 10 minutes. It's one of those abilities that had SE claiming they could never raise the level cap for over 5 years, and then one day SE drops the bomb says it's one of the great things about raising the level cap. Of course RDMs the world over are going to whine and complain about losing their signature JA, but that is because after BRD, RDM is the number 1 prima donna job. News flash, everyone else is losing their signature JA's too. And lets get another thing straight, while Convert is a powerful JA, it's not god-like. It's a full MP once every ten minutes. This is probably most beneficial for WHM in the end, because most other jobs have other limitations on how they can use the MP. SMN still have to wait on Bloodpacts, BLM get a few more nukes but nothing game breaking, SCH get to do more of their... well they do everything already. It just isn't that broken to give this to other jobs.

Magic Attack Bonus II @ 40.
I can only think of one job that is going to care about this because any job that it would really matter to already has something like this available. The one job that is going to care is SCH. SCH has no innate Magic Attack Bonus and has to get them from their sub job. While SCH can get MAB II from BLM already most SCH would still prefer to use RDM as a sub because it gives them access to a wider and far more utilitarian selection of spells. Getting MAB II from RDM as a sub job pretty much eliminates any reason to consider using BLM as a subjob altogether (as is MAB II was a reason to use BLM in the first place).

Magic Defense Bonus II @ 45.
While pretty bland at first this might be a nice little bonus for tanking jobs that already like to sub RDM for dealing with more magic damage intensive fights. PLD already sub RDM for fights like JoL because they can pull a lot of hate and don't need to worry about shadows at all. The problem is that Magic Defense Bonus II only provides +2 MDB over MDB I, while MDB I provides +10 MDB, so the upgrade is comparatively very small. It is an added bonus for those that would be subbing RDM anyway, but it definitely isn't enough to justify switching if you weren't going to do so already.

I am not going to go over every possible spell that RDM is going to get as a sub but I will go over the notable ones.

Raise @ 38.
While this is available for those mage jobs that generally sub WHM, this is a nice added boost to BLM that may need to raise a fallen comrade or if someone forgets to put up Reraise. This is nowhere as good Reraise, but it is something that may make life a little easier for people that want to sub RDM anyway.

Refresh @ 41.
This is the great grand-pappy of all the new things that we will be getting through subjobs as the level cap increases. This one is more game changing than anything else, including Convert. Almost all jobs are going to sub RDM because of this spell, as a constant 3MP per tick is just that good. While there will again be complaints from RDM about the loss of the main reason they are being brought to events (if any RDM thinks the only reason they are brought to events is because of Refresh then they must not know how to Enfeeble at all), SE has already hinted that they will be giving RDM a new Refresh II replacement to keep them in the refresh game. My guess is that it will be better than Refresh and it won't stack with Refresh, so all the prima donnas don't go crying home to mommy.

Sleep II @ 46.
While definitely not unique to the RDM sub job, it is just another added benefit when you are going to be subbing RDM anyway for those other bonuses. It gives mages a bit more real crowd control options if they have the enfeebling skill to use it properly.

Protect III @ 47.
Another little perk for those BLM out there that are going to be loving /RDM for other reasons. Take a little more of a physical beating before you die a horrible death because all of your crowd control got resisted.

Cure IV @ 48.
Another spell that you are going to get through a different sub job and much earlier too, but again, you are going to want to be subbing RDM for other reasons and having Cure IV now means that you are basically capable of doing what a RDM does right now. That doesn't necessarily mean that you will be able to fill the roll that a RDM does right now because MP and HP pools will definitely be increasing as the level cap increases and Cure IV might not be as good an idea as it is now (more Cure IV casts, more hate gained, more MP spent).

Haste @ 48.
This might sound familiar: A spell you really want, that you could get through another sub job, but you will want more from RDM. Essentially this will give all mages the ability to cast haste at least on themselves, and it may help to relieve the burden that is places on RDM and WHM to cover all of the melees and tanks with Haste. This one is so good that it might even mean that melees start to consider using a mage job as a sub. At very least it will be a major boost to PLD/RDM soloing just about everything, and it could mean that PLD/RDM takes over the "Soloing God" position from RDM.

And that's about it. RDM will get a few other spells, but nothing to write home about. RDM is going to be a really important sub job, not just for mages, but for PLD and a few other jobs as well. This is one of those sub jobs that you should level now before the first increase in the level cap so you are ready to go once the update hits.

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/RDM_sub.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/RDM_sub.png" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 261px; height: 180px;" /></a>I begrudgingly review Red Mage next not because I don't think that it will be a bad subjob, it will indeed be awesome, but because it is too obviously awesome. I wanted to hit on a couple of the more interesting potential sub jobs before I went too far into the obvious ones. The problem is that I think that most mages really want to know what is coming from RDM and what they are going to expect. And I also think they don't want to hear about another melee sub job. I think that there are actually some other interesting sub jobs for mages, but I do think that RDM is going to be the "go to" sub jobs for a whole lot of jobs once the level cap increases. I will say this, if you have a main mage job and you don't have RDM leveled then you are going to want to do that before anything else. Like right now... why are you still sitting there? Go! NOW!<br /><br />Convert @ 40.<br />The quintessential RDM ability... and before Composure was added, the only non-two-hour ability that RDM had. Get an entirely new MP pool for your HP every 10 minutes. It's one of those abilities that had SE claiming they could never raise the level cap for over 5 years, and then one day SE drops the bomb says it's one of the great things about raising the level cap. Of course RDMs the world over are going to whine and complain about losing their signature JA, but that is because after BRD, RDM is the number 1 prima donna job. News flash, everyone else is losing their signature JA's too. And lets get another thing straight, while Convert is a powerful JA, it's not god-like. It's a full MP once every ten minutes. This is probably most beneficial for WHM in the end, because most other jobs have other limitations on how they can use the MP. SMN still have to wait on Bloodpacts, BLM get a few more nukes but nothing game breaking, SCH get to do more of their... well they do everything already. It just isn't that broken to give this to other jobs.<br /><br />Magic Attack Bonus II @ 40.<br />I can only think of one job that is going to care about this because any job that it would really matter to already has something like this available. The one job that is going to care is SCH. SCH has no innate <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Magic_Attack_Bonus">Magic Attack Bonus</a> and has to get them from their sub job. While SCH can get MAB II from BLM already most SCH would still prefer to use RDM as a sub because it gives them access to a wider and far more utilitarian selection of spells. Getting MAB II from RDM as a sub job pretty much eliminates any reason to consider using BLM as a subjob altogether (as is MAB II was a reason to use BLM in the first place).<br /><br />Magic Defense Bonus II @ 45.<br />While pretty bland at first this might be a nice little bonus for tanking jobs that already like to sub RDM for dealing with more magic damage intensive fights. PLD already sub RDM for fights like JoL because they can pull a lot of hate and don't need to worry about shadows at all. The problem is that <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Magic_Defense_Bonus">Magic Defense Bonus II</a> only provides +2 MDB over MDB I, while MDB I provides +10 MDB, so the upgrade is comparatively very small. It is an added bonus for those that would be subbing RDM anyway, but it definitely isn't enough to justify switching if you weren't going to do so already.<br /><br />I am not going to go over every possible spell that RDM is going to get as a sub but I will go over the notable ones.<br /><br />Raise @ 38.<br />While this is available for those mage jobs that generally sub WHM, this is a nice added boost to BLM that may need to raise a fallen comrade or if someone forgets to put up Reraise. This is nowhere as good Reraise, but it is something that may make life a little easier for people that want to sub RDM anyway.<br /><br />Refresh @ 41.<br />This is the great grand-pappy of all the new things that we will be getting through subjobs as the level cap increases. This one is more game changing than anything else, including Convert. Almost all jobs are going to sub RDM because of this spell, as a constant 3MP per tick is just that good. While there will again be complaints from RDM about the loss of the main reason they are being brought to events (if any RDM thinks the only reason they are brought to events is because of Refresh then they must not know how to Enfeeble at all), SE has already hinted that they will be giving RDM a new Refresh II replacement to keep them in the refresh game. My guess is that it will be better than Refresh and it won't stack with Refresh, so all the prima donnas don't go crying home to mommy.<br /><br />Sleep II @ 46.<br />While definitely not unique to the RDM sub job, it is just another added benefit when you are going to be subbing RDM anyway for those other bonuses. It gives mages a bit more real crowd control options if they have the enfeebling skill to use it properly. <br /><br />Protect III @ 47.<br />Another little perk for those BLM out there that are going to be loving /RDM for other reasons. Take a little more of a physical beating before you die a horrible death because all of your crowd control got resisted.<br /><br />Cure IV @ 48.<br />Another spell that you are going to get through a different sub job and much earlier too, but again, you are going to want to be subbing RDM for other reasons and having Cure IV now means that you are basically capable of doing what a RDM does right now. That doesn't necessarily mean that you will be able to fill the roll that a RDM does right now because MP and HP pools will definitely be increasing as the level cap increases and Cure IV might not be as good an idea as it is now (more Cure IV casts, more hate gained, more MP spent).<br /><br />Haste @ 48.<br />This might sound familiar: A spell you really want, that you could get through another sub job, but you will want more from RDM. Essentially this will give all mages the ability to cast haste at least on themselves, and it may help to relieve the burden that is places on RDM and WHM to cover all of the melees and tanks with Haste. This one is so good that it might even mean that melees start to consider using a mage job as a sub. At very least it will be a major boost to PLD/RDM soloing just about everything, and it could mean that PLD/RDM takes over the "Soloing God" position from RDM.<br /><br />And that's about it. RDM will get a few other spells, but nothing to write home about. RDM is going to be a really important sub job, not just for mages, but for PLD and a few other jobs as well. This is one of those sub jobs that you should level now before the first increase in the level cap so you are ready to go once the update hits.

Morning in Vana'diel: Fairy's on Fire.

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! One end of the Augments is FoV, but the other end is even better.

I have to say that I really like the Fey Weapon fights. They are quick, but they are repeatable which makes them a little better than most things that SE cooks up. The base weapons are really cheap to come by and they will get even more cheap and easy to get as people do more and more campaign. The Augments for some items are great and some are mediocre and some of them make me question if there are just a bunch of monkeys programming this game, but in general you can get a pretty powerful combination of stats... after a while.

I have already gone over what I thought about the Rindomaru. I think it is very good if you don't have a Hagun and in some cases it will even beat the Hagun, but for the most part you are going to go with the Hagun in important fights. There are other things like the PLD sword that has neat bonuses like enmity and Magic Defense Bonus. And then there are things like the NIN Katana which doesn't have any of those things.

It is definitely a really random system, and I think that is something that a lot of players are finding more and more obnoxious. The randomness in trying to get the item you want is ok because that is what keeps the event going. But when the augments are random between jobs then it gets to be annoying. Really, in this day, does NIN really need more Subtle Blow when they are trying to tank? Where is the Magic Defense Down for NIN? Where are the stats for the COR weapon? Is there really a combination that will beat Destroyers for MNK?

Do you like the new Fey Weapon system? Is it time that SE get their house in order when it comes to properly itemizing gear? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! One end of the Augments is FoV, but the other end is even better.</span><br /><br />I have to say that I really like the Fey Weapon fights. They are quick, but they are repeatable which makes them a little better than most things that SE cooks up. The base weapons are really cheap to come by and they will get even more cheap and easy to get as people do more and more campaign. The Augments for some items are great and some are mediocre and some of them make me question if there are just a bunch of monkeys programming this game, but in general you can get a pretty powerful combination of stats... after a while.<br /><br />I have already gone over what I thought about the Rindomaru. I think it is very good if you don't have a Hagun and in some cases it will even beat the Hagun, but for the most part you are going to go with the Hagun in important fights. There are other things like the PLD sword that has neat bonuses like enmity and Magic Defense Bonus. And then there are things like the NIN Katana which doesn't have any of those things. <br /><br />It is definitely a really random system, and I think that is something that a lot of players are finding more and more obnoxious. The randomness in trying to get the item you want is ok because that is what keeps the event going. But when the augments are random between jobs then it gets to be annoying. Really, in this day, does NIN really need more Subtle Blow when they are trying to tank? Where is the Magic Defense Down for NIN? Where are the stats for the COR weapon? Is there really a combination that will beat Destroyers for MNK? <br /><br />Do you like the new Fey Weapon system? Is it time that SE get their house in order when it comes to properly itemizing gear? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

Morning in Vana'diel: Is Ninja a Legitimate Tank Again?

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring takes a good look at what whether Yonin can make Ninja a good tank again.

NIN is my neglected friend. I loved NIN for so long, but it gradually had more an more problems and got left behind for other more suitable jobs as our PLDs got stronger and stronger. Before the most recent update NIN was in the same basic place it was since it started moving up the tanking food chain. But it never evolved to keep up with the changes that PLD has experienced. And then came Yonin.

Yonin, as you might already know, is a JA that increases enmity and Ninja Tool Expertise (which is glitched at the moment), while decreasing Accuracy. It also improves Evasion and decreases Enemy Critical Hit Rate when in front of the target (which is really all that matters, because there are only a few mobs where you would care about the Evasion and Enemy Critical Hit when you are behind it). Kaeko's testing shows that the enmity gain is +30 at the start and then degrades to +10 over time. This is a big bonus to enmity for NIN, but it still doesn't get them up to where PLD can get on most gear. An additional nice benefit of Yonin is that it provides a decent amount of hate just from using the JA.

Does Yonin get NIN to where PLD is now? No, it doesn't. NIN still has a myriad of other issues before they get back to where PLD is now. They are missing a good amount of damage mitigation compared to PLD, and sub job selection has a much great effect on damage mitigation vs. hate generation than PLD. NIN/DRK is great at building and maintaining hate, but it is much more dependent on support and has little to protect it when shadows are down. This doesn't matter as much in large groups or with a settled mob, but PLDs are able to do all aspects of tanking from holding to doing damage (and how strange is that?). In a higher damage/damage mitigation situation, NIN falls behind because they have to give up their Katanas, and even if they did not they don't have a WS that is as viable as Atonement for maintaining good WS damage. I will expand on this further in another post on how to fix NIN, but for now I think that Yonin is a great start, but isn't enough to even get NIN back to equal with PLD.

What do you think about NIN tanks? Is Yonin going to encourage you to bring a NIN out of retirement? Do you think NIN even needed a boost? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/NIN_Yonin.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/NIN_Yonin.png" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 250px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring takes a good look at what whether Yonin can make Ninja a good tank again.</span><br /><br />NIN is my neglected friend. I loved NIN for so long, but it gradually had more an more problems and got left behind for other more suitable jobs as our PLDs got stronger and stronger. Before the most recent update NIN was in the same basic place it was since it started moving up the tanking food chain. But it never evolved to keep up with the changes that PLD has experienced. And then came Yonin.<br /><br />Yonin, as you might already know, is a JA that increases enmity and Ninja Tool Expertise (which is glitched at the moment), while decreasing Accuracy. It also improves Evasion and decreases Enemy Critical Hit Rate when in front of the target (which is really all that matters, because there are only a few mobs where you would care about the Evasion and Enemy Critical Hit when you are behind it). Kaeko's testing shows that the enmity gain is +30 at the start and then degrades to +10 over time. This is a big bonus to enmity for NIN, but it still doesn't get them up to where PLD can get on most gear. An additional nice benefit of Yonin is that it provides a decent amount of hate just from using the JA.<br /><br />Does Yonin get NIN to where PLD is now? No, it doesn't. NIN still has a myriad of other issues before they get back to where PLD is now. They are missing a good amount of damage mitigation compared to PLD, and sub job selection has a much great effect on damage mitigation vs. hate generation than PLD. NIN/DRK is great at building and maintaining hate, but it is much more dependent on support and has little to protect it when shadows are down. This doesn't matter as much in large groups or with a settled mob, but PLDs are able to do all aspects of tanking from holding to doing damage (and how strange is that?). In a higher damage/damage mitigation situation, NIN falls behind because they have to give up their Katanas, and even if they did not they don't have a WS that is as viable as Atonement for maintaining good WS damage. I will expand on this further in another post on how to fix NIN, but for now I think that Yonin is a great start, but isn't enough to even get NIN back to equal with PLD.<br /><br />What do you think about NIN tanks? Is Yonin going to encourage you to bring a NIN out of retirement? Do you think NIN even needed a boost? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

Sir Iron Will's Wisdom: Ask A Ninja! (PLD/NIN That Is).

Sir Iron Will's Wisdom is here to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about tanking, and probably some things you never wanted to know and now wish to blot out of your memory, whether you like it or not, Izman is here with the do's and don'ts of tanking, in general, solo or end game. This week, after a short disappearance in the hinterlands of Arkansas, Izman is back to hide from you some more behind his shadows.

Ahh, it seems like it has been forever since last I posted. I did miss last weeks post from being too tired and lazy. To make up for it, today I'm going to go over some of the things I do when tanking subbed NIN, which is for just about everything I do. Most of this you will know because I honestly don't do anything special or different. I'm just going to cover how I gear for NIN sub and how to use the sub to its maximum potential.

Ok, some things you need to ask yourself if your going to use PLD/NIN a lot first. Can I count to three (I can but its really hard to play with one hand and count with the other)? Do I even have NIN sub? Do I have a bajillion Gil for Shihei and the Ni scroll?

If you answered yes to all this then you're on the right track.

In essence, when subbing NIN you are just trying not to get hit. This means your gear will be a little different from other subs if you have the gear to optimize for subbing NIN. For example, a Terror or Wivre Shield with more enmity and less block rate than the Koenig shield with less enmity but a higher block rate.

The weapon I use almost always with NIN sub is the Macuahuitl +1 with its +4 enmity it's to good to pass up. You can use the Joyeuse and others I suppose but on mobs that you can't hit this is the one I love to use. And don't be a cheap bastard and get the NQ version. LOL

I mentioned shields right before swords and there is not really a lot of variety at end game for shields. Koenig Shield is a must have and is a great shield but with NIN sub a Wivre or Terror Shield out shine it. If you're new to subbing NIN stick with the Koenig till you master threading shadows.

At this point, the line blurs from on gear depending on your race, your own style of tanking, and the gear you are able to obtain.

I will go over what I use for /NIN but keep in mind if you're a Taru or Galka this will most likely not be ideal for you. For the most part I just stock up on enmity. If you have Iron Ram gear from the past that is great stuff to use. I know I use the hat and boots all the time. The legs and hands are also very amazing but I tend to use Homam in those spots.

There are a few bodies you can use. AF body if you're a cheap S.O.B. who wont buy Adaman gear, AF +1 body to sell that Adaman piece you bought with a few others that are harder to obtain like Valor body and Ares. There is also the Nuevo body that you put fast cast and enmity on, right?

Hands that are great for subbing NIN are Homam (Iz)Manopolas, Askar hands, I.R. hands, and Adaman (I think).

Legs, the bane of my existance. Homam legs, more Homam legs, I.R. legs, and Adaman once again if you just dinged 73. I think that is about it.

Boots. OK, you win this one you cheap bastards. AF feet are still really great even for NIN sub and the HQ even better but it's only something I macro in when shadows are down. When I do have shadows up, I use I.R. boots with all of its enmity but Adaman, Homam, and Askar are all great choices and the best will vary on your play style.

For rings I use a Hercules' Ring and if you don't own one you get my Cheap S.O.B. Seal of Approval™! I mainly use a Bomb Queen Ring on my other finger but the CoP ring is also amazing. I would wear more but I lost my other 8 fingers in the Dunes to a crab.

Waist is easy enough, a Trance Belt being the better choice but a Warwolf Belt is also very good and very cheap. I wouldn't use anything other then these unless I was a Taru or Galka.

Ears! A lot for choices for ears. I use a Loquacious Earring and a Ethereal Earring but those don't come until later in the game. A Buckler Earring is fine or HP Earrings of any sort and the Cure Potency +5% are all nice until you can get a Loquacious and Ether earring.

The neck slot, the only exposed spot on your body besides your face. Parade Gorget is amazing as well as the Ritter Gorget and the last choice I can think of is a Shield Torque for when those shadows are down.

Bow? Well, the Lamian Kaman or the +1 are the best. And here is where I become the cheap sob that uses a NQ. A Rosenbogen is fine I guess but the point is not to get hit so the VIT and HP become less important than MP and Magic Defense.

The back. A Cerberus Mantle is amazing with its 3 enmity and it is also becoming more affordable. The Gigant Mantle is OK
but I think costs more then a Cerb Mantle now, and a Boxer's Mantle rounds out the top 3 choices besides a Cerberus Mantle +1, but I don't have the 20+ Mil for one of those. If you don't have those then just about anything will work to fill in space.

Well, that's it for the gear part now lets talk about counting shadows.

Threading shadows is the term I use when I cancel my shadows to put up a fresh set. To do this properly you have to cancel your shadows at the top of your screen right before the third attack comes in while you are casting a new set of shadows. This can be difficult at times with lag and spell lock but with enough practice it will become second nature to you.

Some things to keep in mind when doing this is that Ichi will overwrite itself so no need to cancel shadows if you're casting Ichi over Ichi. The only time you will have to cancel is when you're casting Ichi and have shadows up from Ni before. One other short tip is to save Shield Bash to stun a enemy to get a Ichi up in time of need.

Here are some final tips and good things to have with NIN sub: 1. A shield set that you can swap into when your shadows are down. 2. The less blinking the better and your mages will love you, the more you blink the higher your chance of death. 3. Keep in mind to not swap out anything that will make you lose TP.

That's it for this week, I'm sure I have missed a few things or there are things I didn't think of but playing PLD really is more dependent on skill than gear, more then most jobs I would think. So go practice threading those shadows until you have 1-2-3 pounded into your little concussed PLD head. Lets all cross our fingers and hope the I.R. body is at least half as awesome as we all think it will be!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Drac_Bash.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Drac_Bash.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 267px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sir Iron Will's Wisdom</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is here to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about tanking, and probably some things you never wanted to know and now wish to blot out of your memory, whether you like it or not, Izman is here with the do's and don'ts of tanking, in general, solo or end game. This week, after a short disappearance in the hinterlands of Arkansas, Izman is back to hide from you some more behind his shadows.</span><br /><br />Ahh, it seems like it has been forever since last I posted. I did miss last weeks post from being too tired and lazy. To make up for it, today I'm going to go over some of the things I do when tanking subbed NIN, which is for just about everything I do. Most of this you will know because I honestly don't do anything special or different. I'm just going to cover how I gear for NIN sub and how to use the sub to its maximum potential.<br /><br />Ok, some things you need to ask yourself if your going to use PLD/NIN a lot first. Can I count to three (I can but its really hard to play with one hand and count with the other)? Do I even have NIN sub? Do I have a bajillion Gil for Shihei and the Ni scroll?<br /><br />If you answered yes to all this then you're on the right track.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">In essence, when subbing NIN you are just trying not to get hit. This means your gear will be a little different from other subs if you have the gear to optimize for subbing NIN. For example, a Terror or Wivre Shield with more enmity and less block rate than the Koenig shield with less enmity but a higher block rate.<br /><br />The weapon I use almost always with NIN sub is the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Macuahuitl_%2B1">Macuahuitl +1</a> with its +4 enmity it's to good to pass up. You can use the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Joyeuse">Joyeuse</a> and others I suppose but on mobs that you can't hit this is the one I love to use. And don't be a cheap bastard and get the NQ version. LOL<br /><br />I mentioned shields right before swords and there is not really a lot of variety at end game for shields. <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Koenig_Shield">Koenig Shield</a> is a must have and is a great shield but with NIN sub a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Wivre_Shield">Wivre</a> or <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Terror_Shield">Terror Shield</a> out shine it. If you're new to subbing NIN stick with the Koenig till you master threading shadows.<br /><br />At this point, the line blurs from on gear depending on your race, your own style of tanking, and the gear you are able to obtain.<br /><br />I will go over what I use for /NIN but keep in mind if you're a Taru or Galka this will most likely not be ideal for you. For the most part I just stock up on enmity. If you have <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Sallet_Set">Iron Ram gear</a> from the past that is great stuff to use. I know I use the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Sallet">hat</a> and <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Greaves">boots</a> all the time. The <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Hose">legs</a> and <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Dastanas">hands</a> are also very amazing but I tend to use <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Homam_Corazza_Set">Homam</a> in those spots.<br /><br />There are a few bodies you can use. <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Gallant_Surcoat">AF body</a> if you're a cheap S.O.B. who wont buy <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Adaman_Cuirass">Adaman gear</a>, <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Gallant_Surcoat_%2B1">AF +1 body</a> to sell that Adaman piece you bought with a few others that are harder to obtain like <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Valor_Surcoat">Valor body</a> and <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Ares%27s_Cuirass">Ares</a>. There is also the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Nuevo_Coselete">Nuevo body</a> that you put fast cast and enmity on, right?<br /><br />Hands that are great for subbing NIN are <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Homam_Manopolas">Homam (Iz)Manopolas</a>, <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Askar_Manopolas">Askar hands</a>, I.R. hands, and <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Adaman_Gauntlets">Adaman</a> (I think).<br /><br />Legs, the bane of my existance. <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Homam_Cosciales">Homam legs</a>, more Homam legs, I.R. legs, and <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Adaman_Cuisses">Adaman</a> once again if you just dinged 73. I think that is about it.<br /><br />Boots. OK, you win this one you cheap bastards. <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Gallant_Leggings">AF feet</a> are still really great even for NIN sub and the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Gallant_Leggings_%2B1">HQ</a> even better but it's only something I macro in when shadows are down. When I do have shadows up, I use I.R. boots with all of its enmity but <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Adaman_Sabatons">Adaman</a>, <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Homam_Gambieras">Homam</a>, and <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Askar_Gambieras">Askar</a> are all great choices and the best will vary on your play style.<br /><br />For rings I use a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Hercules%27_Ring">Hercules' Ring</a> and if you don't own one you get my Cheap S.O.B. Seal of Approval™! I mainly use a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Bomb_Queen_Ring">Bomb Queen Ring</a> on my other finger but the CoP ring is also amazing. I would wear more but I lost my other 8 fingers in the Dunes to a crab.<br /><br />Waist is easy enough, a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Trance_Belt">Trance Belt</a> being the better choice but a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Warwolf_Belt">Warwolf Belt</a> is also very good and very cheap. I wouldn't use anything other then these unless I was a Taru or Galka.<br /><br />Ears! A lot for choices for ears. I use a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Loquacious_Earring">Loquacious Earring</a> and a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Ethereal_Earring">Ethereal Earring</a> but those don't come until later in the game. A <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Buckler_Earring">Buckler Earring</a> is fine or <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_Earring">HP</a> <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Insomnia_Earring">Earrings</a> of any sort and the Cure Potency +5% are all nice until you can get a Loquacious and Ether earring.<br /><br />The neck slot, the only exposed spot on your body besides your face. <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Parade_Gorget">Parade Gorget</a> is amazing as well as the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Ritter_Gorget">Ritter Gorget</a> and the last choice I can think of is a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Shield_Torque">Shield Torque</a> for when those shadows are down.<br /><br />Bow? Well, the <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Lamian_Kaman">Lamian Kaman</a> or <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Lamian_Kaman_%2B1">the +1</a> are the best. And here is where I become the cheap sob that uses a NQ. A <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Rosenbogen">Rosenbogen</a> is fine I guess but the point is not to get hit so the VIT and HP become less important than MP and Magic Defense.<br /><br />The back. A <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Mantle">Cerberus Mantle</a> is amazing with its 3 enmity and it is also becoming more affordable. The <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Gigant_Mantle">Gigant Mantle</a> is OK<br />but I think costs more then a Cerb Mantle now, and a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Boxer%27s_Mantle">Boxer's Mantle</a> rounds out the top 3 choices besides a <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Mantle_%2B1">Cerberus Mantle +1</a>, but I don't have the 20+ Mil for one of those. If you don't have those then just about anything will work to fill in space.<br /><br />Well, that's it for the gear part now lets talk about counting shadows.<br /><br />Threading shadows is the term I use when I cancel my shadows to put up a fresh set. To do this properly you have to cancel your shadows at the top of your screen right before the third attack comes in while you are casting a new set of shadows. This can be difficult at times with lag and spell lock but with enough practice it will become second nature to you.<br /><br />Some things to keep in mind when doing this is that Ichi will overwrite itself so no need to cancel shadows if you're casting Ichi over Ichi. The only time you will have to cancel is when you're casting Ichi and have shadows up from Ni before. One other short tip is to save <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Shield_Bash">Shield Bash</a> to stun a enemy to get a Ichi up in time of need.<br /><br />Here are some final tips and good things to have with NIN sub: 1. A shield set that you can swap into when your shadows are down. 2. The less blinking the better and your mages will love you, the more you blink the higher your chance of death. 3. Keep in mind to not swap out anything that will make you lose TP.<br /><br />That's it for this week, I'm sure I have missed a few things or there are things I didn't think of but playing PLD really is more dependent on skill than gear, more then most jobs I would think. So go practice threading those shadows until you have 1-2-3 pounded into your little concussed PLD head. Lets all cross our fingers and hope the I.R. body is at least half as awesome as we all think it will be!</span>

Morning In Vana'diel: A Delicate Balance

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring considers current game imbalance and if there is any chance it can ever be fixed.

PLD's get another buff. Is it a big buff? We don't really know yet, and won't know until the update it look like. But I can tell you this, I had my NIN out the other day and while I can still keep up with hate against a PLD (though it does take a little longer to build and it's harder to get back) I just don't have the survivability of that other tank. I didn't die at all, but I did take more damage, and I required more attention from buffers and healers than our PLD need. And why shouldn't they? We get one more shadow which is nice, except for any shadow-wiping ability which is like any important mob TP move, but PLD get's better gear, better situational gear, better JA, a shield and now with Atonement they can even do damage. NIN can do damage too, somewhat, depending on what you are fighting, and Durado Sushi can help with that, but in the end they aren't going to get the consistent hate of Joyuese and Atonement, and they are going to have to give up a good chunk of damage reduction to do any damage. And they don't even get access to things like this.

NIN isn't the only place that imbalance occurs, but it is one of the best examples. RNG is another that I mentioned yesterday, and even though the two-handers are now pretty close that is because they just do a ton of damage more than anyone else. What happened to MNK? SE has tried to balance back WHM against the abilities of RDM and I believe they have done so rather well, but what about BLM against SCH? What about BST? BLU and COR both have their occasional niches, but should SE build jobs around niches? Or should they think about fixing things that cause these disparities in the first place? There are a couple of places that SE could look to re-balance things.

1. Stop buffing JA's and Magic independently of each other. When you buff a JA or a spell or just about anything in the game, don't just think about how it effects that job, but think about what other jobs need to be buffed to compensate for the new, stronger JA.

2. Rethink the damage for two-hander versus dual-wielders. If you are going to increase the strength of two-handers that is great, but give something to the dual-wielders to let them keep up too. More haste? Equalized stat bonuses?

3. Be ready to admit you made a mistake or have gone too far. This is SE's major problem. They have no idea how to fix things they tried to fix in the past. Although people complain like nothing else when servers go down after updates to fix problems, I much prefer that they do that than leave these broken. Fix problems, fix them fast and get things balanced.

This is definitely not a comprehensive list of ways that SE can re-balance issues in the game, but it is definitely a start. I would prefer they were much less cautious with changes if they were willing to roll them back if they were too much. It took many months for SE to finally fix the RNG nerf, when the problem was obvious from the first day the patch came out.

Is it a sense of entitlement they have? Do they think they really know how to make the players enjoy the game more than the players do? I am not saying they should give the players everything they want, but there is a difference between whining and legitimate criticism. SE just has a problem figuring out the difference.

Do you think PLD is overpowered? What about SAM? Do they need more buffs? Does everyone need more buffs? Is it even possible to balance this game with so many jobs? Do we really even need balance? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Ninja_Cry.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Ninja_Cry.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 167px; height: 250px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring considers current game imbalance and if there is any chance it can ever be fixed.</span><br /><br />PLD's get another buff. Is it a big buff? We don't really know yet, and won't know until the update it look like. But I can tell you this, I had my NIN out the other day and while I can still keep up with hate against a PLD (though it does take a little longer to build and it's harder to get back) I just don't have the survivability of that other tank. I didn't die at all, but I did take more damage, and I required more attention from buffers and healers than our PLD need. And why shouldn't they? We get one more shadow which is nice, except for any shadow-wiping ability which is like any important mob TP move, but PLD get's better gear, better situational gear, better JA, a shield and now with Atonement they can even do damage. NIN can do damage too, somewhat, depending on what you are fighting, and Durado Sushi can help with that, but in the end they aren't going to get the consistent hate of Joyuese and Atonement, and they are going to have to give up a good chunk of damage reduction to do any damage. And they don't even get access to things like <a href="http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ram_Lance">this</a>.<br /><br />NIN isn't the only place that imbalance occurs, but it is one of the best examples. RNG is another that I mentioned yesterday, and even though the two-handers are now pretty close that is because they just do a ton of damage more than anyone else. What happened to MNK? SE has tried to balance back WHM against the abilities of RDM and I believe they have done so rather well, but what about BLM against SCH? What about BST? BLU and COR both have their occasional niches, but should SE build jobs around niches? Or should they think about fixing things that cause these disparities in the first place? There are a couple of places that SE could look to re-balance things.<br /><br />1. Stop buffing JA's and Magic independently of each other. When you buff a JA or a spell or just about anything in the game, don't just think about how it effects that job, but think about what other jobs need to be buffed to compensate for the new, stronger JA.<br /><br />2. Rethink the damage for two-hander versus dual-wielders. If you are going to increase the strength of two-handers that is great, but give something to the dual-wielders to let them keep up too. More haste? Equalized stat bonuses? <br /><br />3. Be ready to admit you made a mistake or have gone too far. This is SE's major problem. They have no idea how to fix things they tried to fix in the past. Although people complain like nothing else when servers go down after updates to fix problems, I much prefer that they do that than leave these broken. Fix problems, fix them fast and get things balanced.<br /><br />This is definitely not a comprehensive list of ways that SE can re-balance issues in the game, but it is definitely a start. I would prefer they were much less cautious with changes if they were willing to roll them back if they were too much. It took many months for SE to finally fix the RNG nerf, when the problem was obvious from the first day the patch came out.<br /><br />Is it a sense of entitlement they have? Do they think they really know how to make the players enjoy the game more than the players do? I am not saying they should give the players everything they want, but there is a difference between whining and legitimate criticism. SE just has a problem figuring out the difference.<br /><br />Do you think PLD is overpowered? What about SAM? Do they need more buffs? Does everyone need more buffs? Is it even possible to balance this game with so many jobs? Do we really even need balance? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

POL News: Circles and Spells.

New Job update thing on POL. I don't know what else to call it really, I supposed there are job ability adjustments here but there is really nothing "new" except for two new BLU spells. I certainly hope this is not the last installment of job adjustment for this update because this is really next to nothing. I am hopeful, but there is nothing in this update note to indicate that there might be more on the way.

The first thing that was mentioned was the fact that skill ups for low and middle levels has been improved. This was because Level Sync parties and Campaign was limiting the opportunities that players had to get skill ups appropriate for their levels. Now, there could be an issue with this. If it is only for low or middle levels of the job then this is next to useless, because you will still be leveling under Level Sync or Campaign. I assume that they mean low and middle levels of the skills, so if your skills really lag behind you will get more skill ups, but once you get to the cap and you are not understand Level Sync as much because you are doing normal XP or Merit parties, then the skill ups will normalize. This is just another one of those cases where SE is pretty unclear and they will never clear things up, we will just have to find out for ourselves. And I will have to wonder when I will finally get that last level of Parry skill up on SAM or NIN. :(

Circle JA's are getting a boost too. We have no idea what kind of boost they are getting though. SE again is very vague here. Just stating that they know that the Circle JA's are pretty useless compared to their delay, and that they are going to get a big buff. This is going to effect PLD, SAM, DRG, DRG and BST's merit circle ability. Like with many changes, I have to wonder how much SE worries about game balance between the jobs. Instead of looking at the jobs themselves, they are looking at the ability types to get people to use them more often. But does PLD really need another buff? Does SAM? DRG? DRK? BST does definitely, but they are just buffing a merit ability, and not something that effects all BST and more importantly BST that have already handed over their merits for other abilities that might have to now switch them if this JA is really good.

Finally, BLU gets some more spells. This is nice for BLU I suppose, but with very many things in this game these spells will either be awesome and used all the time or they will suck and will never be used. This is especially true of BLU that usually has a limited store of spells they can use and it is already full. I understand that when they put new mobs into the game they will want to add new spells, but a lot of the spells overlap because the TP moves of the mobs overlap. This is fine for the mobs because they still have unique combination of TP moves decided by the developers. But most players are going to just pick the strongest spells, and SE wants people to use new spells they are going to have to provide something strong and unique that BLU's don't already get. Again, I have to wonder if they are just creating to be creative or if they are considering game balance and player choice in any of their development decisions.
Here is the full text of the update notes:

As a follow up to last week's article on new ninja job abilities, it is with pleasure that we introduce other job-related additions and adjustments scheduled for the fast-approaching July version update.

Rate of Gain for Combat and Magic Skills
The introduction of in-game systems such as Level Sync and Fields of Valor, while expediting job level increases in the low and middle level ranges, has caused gains made in combat and magic skills to lag behind.

To address this issue, the rate at which combat and magic skills increase during low and middle job levels is set to be given a boost.

Circle-type Abilities
Up until now, the benefits granted by Circle-type abilities have been lackluster relative to their ability delay. The July version update will see these abilities imbued with additional effects for greatly enhanced usability.

The following abilities will benefit from the above adjustment:
Holy Circle / Arcane Circle / Warding Circle / Ancient Circle / Killer Instinct

Blue Magic
Two new blue magic spells are scheduled to be added in the coming version update.

<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 415px; height: 100px;" /></a>New Job update thing on POL. I don't know what else to call it really, I supposed there are job ability adjustments here but there is really nothing "new" except for two new BLU spells. I certainly hope this is not the last installment of job adjustment for this update because this is really next to nothing. I am hopeful, but there is nothing in this update note to indicate that there might be more on the way. <br /><br />The first thing that was mentioned was the fact that skill ups for low and middle levels has been improved. This was because Level Sync parties and Campaign was limiting the opportunities that players had to get skill ups appropriate for their levels. Now, there could be an issue with this. If it is only for low or middle levels of the <span style="font-style:italic;">job</span> then this is next to useless, because you will still be leveling under Level Sync or Campaign. I assume that they mean low and middle levels of the skills, so if your skills really lag behind you will get more skill ups, but once you get to the cap and you are not understand Level Sync as much because you are doing normal XP or Merit parties, then the skill ups will normalize. This is just another one of those cases where SE is pretty unclear and they will never clear things up, we will just have to find out for ourselves. And I will have to wonder when I will finally get that last level of Parry skill up on SAM or NIN. :(<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_6.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" /></a>Circle JA's are getting a boost too. We have no idea what kind of boost they are getting though. SE again is very vague here. Just stating that they know that the Circle JA's are pretty useless compared to their delay, and that they are going to get a big buff. This is going to effect PLD, SAM, DRG, DRG and BST's merit circle ability. Like with many changes, I have to wonder how much SE worries about game balance between the jobs. Instead of looking at the jobs themselves, they are looking at the ability types to get people to use them more often. But does PLD really need another buff? Does SAM? DRG? DRK? BST does definitely, but they are just buffing a merit ability, and not something that effects all BST and more importantly BST that have already handed over their merits for other abilities that might have to now switch them if this JA is really good.<br /><br />Finally, BLU gets some more spells. This is nice for BLU I suppose, but with very many things in this game these spells will either be awesome and used all the time or they will suck and will never be used. This is especially true of BLU that usually has a limited store of spells they can use and it is already full. I understand that when they put new mobs into the game they will want to add new spells, but a lot of the spells overlap because the TP moves of the mobs overlap. This is fine for the mobs because they still have unique <span style="font-style:italic;">combination</span> of TP moves decided by the developers. But most players are going to just pick the strongest spells, and SE wants people to use new spells they are going to have to provide something strong and unique that BLU's don't already get. Again, I have to wonder if they are just creating to be creative or if they are considering game balance and player choice in any of their development decisions.<a href="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_9.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics/ff11us/detail/4692/4692_9.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 454px; height: 170px;" /></a><br />Here is the full text of the update notes: <br /><br />As a follow up to last week's article on new ninja job abilities, it is with pleasure that we introduce other job-related additions and adjustments scheduled for the fast-approaching July version update.<br /><br />Rate of Gain for Combat and Magic Skills<br />The introduction of in-game systems such as Level Sync and Fields of Valor, while expediting job level increases in the low and middle level ranges, has caused gains made in combat and magic skills to lag behind.<br /><br />To address this issue, the rate at which combat and magic skills increase during low and middle job levels is set to be given a boost.<br /><br />Circle-type Abilities<br />Up until now, the benefits granted by Circle-type abilities have been lackluster relative to their ability delay. The July version update will see these abilities imbued with additional effects for greatly enhanced usability.<br /><br />The following abilities will benefit from the above adjustment:<br />Holy Circle / Arcane Circle / Warding Circle / Ancient Circle / Killer Instinct<br /><br />Blue Magic<br />Two new blue magic spells are scheduled to be added in the coming version update.<br /></span>

Sir Iron Will's Wisdom: Preventing Level Down.

Sir Iron Will's Wisdom is here to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about tanking, and probably some things you never wanted to know and now wish to blot out of your memory, whether you like it or not, Izman is here with the do's and don'ts of tanking, in general, solo or end game. Izman is doing some Campaign to get all that XP back that tanks lose, let's join him.

Hello my shield bashing minions! Today I wanted to talk about getting XP back on PLD at end game which of course means only a couple options for us. Campaign, Level Sync and of course, burn parties.

The most popular of these is campaign. This is a fast and easy way for PLDs to get that XP they have lost due to dying a honorable death in battle. No need to put your party flag up for this, just go change your sub to Dancer or my favorite Red Mage and let the XP roll in. Most PLDs will sub Dancer for this which is great but if you have never tried Red Mage sub prepare to have your mind blown. Phalanx will make most mobs hit you for 0 almost every time. It also makes NMs easier to tank, for the most part, like Shadow Hand who goes around pimp slapping everyone. With Phalanx even her weapon skills are to be laughed at. The best advantage of Red Mage sub is that you can use your TP for Atonement to get that extra damage in for more XP. Of course I don't have dancer sub so I don't know how awesome it is in campaign but since most PLDs sub it I'm sure its amazing.

Level Sync is also a great way to get that XP back. I enjoy a level sync party every once in a while to relive those Crawler's Nest days. Not much to say about this but that it is easy to get a invite on PLD and it's fun to XP with your pals, even if it is not the fastest XP in the world.

The least likely situation to get your buffer back is burn parties. Don't put your flag up if you think you're getting into one of these, cause all you will get is a Level Sync invite. Best chance of doing it is begging your friends to let you come along and tell them "Well I can cover you and holy circle and stuff". Having a DD set for this is also something you will need. If you get into one of these prepare to lose all that XP tanking some big nasty for one of your friends who let you come along. LOL

Now don't get me wrong PLD can do some great damage but you're not going to get a chance to show most people that you can. So remember all you people who abuse your PLD pals, be nice cause we go through a lot of crap to get all that XP we lose for you!

Well that's it for this one. I'm to tired to think of any other options for getting XP back so why not do the thinking for me and let me know how you get your XP back.

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Vunk_Inlet.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Vunk_Inlet.png" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 150px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sir Iron Will's Wisdom</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is here to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about tanking, and probably some things you never wanted to know and now wish to blot out of your memory, whether you like it or not, Izman is here with the do's and don'ts of tanking, in general, solo or end game. Izman is doing some Campaign to get all that XP back that tanks lose, let's join him.</span><br /><br />Hello my shield bashing minions! Today I wanted to talk about getting XP back on PLD at end game which of course means only a couple options for us. Campaign, Level Sync and of course, burn parties.<br /><br />The most popular of these is campaign. This is a fast and easy way for PLDs to get that XP they have lost due to dying a honorable death in battle. No need to put your party flag up for this, just go change your sub to Dancer or my favorite Red Mage and let the XP roll in. Most PLDs will sub Dancer for this which is great but if you have never tried Red Mage sub prepare to have your mind blown. Phalanx will make most mobs hit you for 0 almost every time. It also makes NMs easier to tank, for the most part, like Shadow Hand who goes around pimp slapping everyone. With Phalanx even her weapon skills are to be laughed at. The best advantage of Red Mage sub is that you can use your TP for Atonement to get that extra damage in for more XP. Of course I don't have dancer sub so I don't know how awesome it is in campaign but since most PLDs sub it I'm sure its amazing.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Level Sync is also a great way to get that XP back. I enjoy a level sync party every once in a while to relive those Crawler's Nest days. Not much to say about this but that it is easy to get a invite on PLD and it's fun to XP with your pals, even if it is not the fastest XP in the world.<br /><br /><a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Iz_Title10.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Iz_Title10.png" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 75px;" /></a>The least likely situation to get your buffer back is burn parties. Don't put your flag up if you think you're getting into one of these, cause all you will get is a Level Sync invite. Best chance of doing it is begging your friends to let you come along and tell them "Well I can cover you and holy circle and stuff". Having a DD set for this is also something you will need. If you get into one of these prepare to lose all that XP tanking some big nasty for one of your friends who let you come along. LOL<br /><br />Now don't get me wrong PLD can do some great damage but you're not going to get a chance to show most people that you can. So remember all you people who abuse your PLD pals, be nice cause we go through a lot of crap to get all that XP we lose for you!<br /><br />Well that's it for this one. I'm to tired to think of any other options for getting XP back so why not do the thinking for me and let me know how you get your XP back.<br /></span>

Morning in Vana'diel: Some Things Are Universal.

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Search far and wide, even go to different MMO's and you will find that some things, the most basic and fundamental things, are always there.

I was perusing the vast and infinite net and happened upon a list of the generic members of any group of online players. They were pretty humorous because they resemble something that I think everyone experiences online. The "drunk", the "girl with the foreign accent", the "overly sexual girl that hates the girl with the foreign accent"; the list goes on and on. Some may be closer to your personal experiences than others but the humor in them are indisputable. There was one that stood out to me though, and it stood out to me because not only was it humorous and true, but also because it is actually critical to how we play the game.

That member type was called the "backbone" and here is what the definition of the backbone said:

The Backbone - Plays a tank. Doesn't have much to say. Made an error once in SSC, or so you heard. Will disconnect when Gorefiend is at 30% and keep aggro while offline for the rest of the fight. Has never said anything negative to the healers. Ever. Good luck with your progression without one of these. Hates the prima donnas.

Now this is a WoW specific definition of the backbone but you can see how it applies. The backbone is your best tank, not the second tank, not the tank that wishes they could come as a DD, the backbone is the guy that you never have to ask to come on PLD and always has the right subjob for the event. They may die, but they don't screw-up, and if there is a chance they screwed up you know that someone else is going to take responsibility. They are the tank you don't ever have to worry about holding hate from your insane BLM or the WHM can't cast anything but Cure IV. And they won't even tell the WHM to stop casting Cure IV, because the backbone just does his job and does it well.

The backbone is everyone's key to getting things done. You don't have to worry so much about support, or healing, or if they know the strategy. You know they know the strategy without even having to look it up. And they have that little bit of epicness about them that just makes you happy they are around. Like "Remember that time when he took every single Citadel Buster without dropping to red HP?" and "Remember the time that he solo'ed the last 20% of Ix'DRG because someone screwed up the Wyvern pull?".

Our backbone is Izman, who is your backbone? Do you have a backbone? Do you wish you had a "backbone"? Do you even need a "backbone? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/spine.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/spine.gif" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 263px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Search far and wide, even go to different MMO's and you will find that some things, the most basic and fundamental things, are always there.</span><br /><br />I was perusing the vast and infinite net and happened upon a list of the generic members of any group of online players. They were pretty humorous because they resemble something that I think everyone experiences online. The "drunk", the "girl with the foreign accent", the "overly sexual girl that hates the girl with the foreign accent"; the list goes on and on. Some may be closer to your personal experiences than others but the humor in them are indisputable. There was one that stood out to me though, and it stood out to me because not only was it humorous and true, but also because it is actually critical to how we play the game.<br /><br />That member type was called the "backbone" and here is what the definition of the backbone said: <blockquote>The Backbone - Plays a tank. Doesn't have much to say. Made an error once in SSC, or so you heard. Will disconnect when Gorefiend is at 30% and keep aggro while offline for the rest of the fight. Has never said anything negative to the healers. Ever. Good luck with your progression without one of these. Hates the prima donnas.</blockquote><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Now this is a WoW specific definition of the backbone but you can see how it applies. The backbone is your best tank, not the second tank, not the tank that wishes they could come as a DD, the backbone is the guy that you never have to ask to come on PLD and always has the right subjob for the event. They may die, but they don't screw-up, and if there is a chance they screwed up you know that someone else is going to take responsibility. They are the tank you don't ever have to worry about holding hate from your insane BLM or the WHM can't cast anything but Cure IV. And they won't even tell the WHM to stop casting Cure IV, because the backbone just does his job and does it well. <br /><br />The backbone is everyone's key to getting things done. You don't have to worry so much about support, or healing, or if they know the strategy. You know they know the strategy without even having to look it up. And they have that little bit of epicness about them that just makes you happy they are around. Like "Remember that time when he took every single Citadel Buster without dropping to red HP?" and "Remember the time that he solo'ed the last 20% of Ix'DRG because someone screwed up the Wyvern pull?".<br /><br />Our backbone is Izman, who is your backbone? Do you have a backbone? Do you wish you had a "backbone"? Do you even need a "backbone? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!</span>

Morning in Vana'diel: One Tank.

Morning in Vana'diel is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring wonders why it's so hard for SE to balance tanking.

See that guy in the pic? He is just some generic PLD. There are about a million of them in FFXI. They were all AF until they get AF2, they know Provoke, Flash, Cure III and Utsusemi, and that's it. They have some random shield, and probably even have VIT rings. And you know what? They can tank most end-game mobs better than a NIN, and NIN is the only other real choice that would be able to tank most end-game mobs. Sure, other jobs can tank stuff too, but it's usually rather limited or the hate build is far too slow. NIN and PLD are your real end-game tanks, and NIN can't even keep up anymore. You might see a NIN in some places, but they know and the PLD knows that the PLD could do a better job in much worse gear. It's been this way for a while, and I have to wonder why...

These new JA's for NIN are probably going to help it. More instant enmity, less damage taken, more evasion? But are the bonuses enough? Is there anything as good as not being interrupted while casting? What about those JA's that PLD gets? All that enmity gear? NIN hasn't gotten a tanking gear upgrade in years. Why not try and make WAR a viable tank? Give them a damage reducing JA that really works. I don't know, for all the complaints about having only 1 and a half tanks for a game with 20 jobs there really isn't much of a tanking shortage. A lot of times NIN and PLD are waiting in lines to tank stuff.

I have to hope that these new bonuses for NIN do a good job at rebalancing some of the tanking issues. I just think variety, even if not necessarily needed is still a nice thing to have in these situations? Would all those people that leveled PLD like all those people before them leveled NIN even want there to be another tank option? I don't know if SE even really cared that much, they just like to see how people play instead of worrying about balancing all that much. Some balance is nice, but letting us play our own game instead of changing every job every update is also a very nice change of pace from most MMOs.

Are you a generic PLD? Are you an old-school NIN that got pushed out by an AF PLD? Do you think PLD should be able to tank end-game because they get shunned everywhere else? Do you want more tanking jobs or do you think things are fine? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!

<a href="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Generic_PLD.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff151/ringthreetheicp/Generic_PLD.png" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 309px;" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">Morning in Vana'diel</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> is your daily dose of FFXI and all things Vana'diel. Give us your thoughts on the interesting topics of the day! Today, Ring wonders why it's so hard for SE to balance tanking.</span><br /><br />See that guy in the pic? He is just some generic PLD. There are about a million of them in FFXI. They were all AF until they get AF2, they know Provoke, Flash, Cure III and Utsusemi, and that's it. They have some random shield, and probably even have VIT rings. And you know what? They can tank most end-game mobs better than a NIN, and NIN is the only other real choice that would be able to tank most end-game mobs. Sure, other jobs can tank stuff too, but it's usually rather limited or the hate build is far too slow. NIN and PLD are your real end-game tanks, and NIN can't even keep up anymore. You might see a NIN in some places, but they know and the PLD knows that the PLD could do a better job in much worse gear. It's been this way for a while, and I have to wonder why... <br /><br />These new JA's for NIN are probably going to help it. More instant enmity, less damage taken, more evasion? But are the bonuses enough? Is there anything as good as not being interrupted while casting? What about those JA's that PLD gets? All that enmity gear? NIN hasn't gotten a tanking gear upgrade in years. Why not try and make WAR a viable tank? Give them a damage reducing JA that really works. I don't know, for all the complaints about having only 1 and a half tanks for a game with 20 jobs there really isn't much of a tanking shortage. A lot of times NIN and PLD are waiting in lines to tank stuff.<br /><br />I have to hope that these new bonuses for NIN do a good job at rebalancing some of the tanking issues. I just think variety, even if not necessarily needed is still a nice thing to have in these situations? Would all those people that leveled PLD like all those people before them leveled NIN even want there to be another tank option? I don't know if SE even really cared that much, they just like to see how people play instead of worrying about balancing all that much. Some balance is nice, but letting us play our own game instead of changing every job every update is also a very nice change of pace from most MMOs.<br /><br />Are you a generic PLD? Are you an old-school NIN that got pushed out by an AF PLD? Do you think PLD should be able to tank end-game because they get shunned everywhere else? Do you want more tanking jobs or do you think things are fine? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!

The Math of Sword and Spell: Tanking Multipliers

Every Thursday Araelus is bringing the science to FFXI. 

The Math of Sword and Spell is dedicated not only to the hardcore calculations and statistics of FFXI, but more importantly to helping you use that math without confusing you. You may not know why you are playing better, but rest assured you will be playing better.

This week's edition focuses on how Slow effects are a great boon to tanking, perhaps more than anything else. Also discussed are creative ways to increase Enmity, reduce damage taken, and even use some unusual jobs for tanking, such as Black Mage.

Last week, we discussed some of the ways White Mages and Scholars can benefit the whole party, as well as taking a critical look at Dancer and Summoner (especially in the comment thread). This week we take a break from support jobs and examine the difficult but crucial role of tank. Whether Paladin, Ninja, or something out of the ordinary, tanks are called upon to focus damage from the enemy to a well-defended target: themselves.

In order to preserve some kind of game balance, not everyone takes damage equally well. What should a designated tank focus on in available gear? What might they ask the party to do in assistance, and how can you help a tank stay alive, besides curing? What can those predisposed against tanking do to make up some of the difference when targeted? Should I try to avoid stepping on Izman’s toes in this article?

“Preventing Damage Outright” might as well be the slogan of Utsusemi, and clearly not taking damage is the best way for a tank to keep on going. But how about preventing the attack entirely?

If you remember back to the start of this column, three categories of effects were mentioned which could be described as benefiting everyone in the fight since they helped the tank: stopping enemy actions, slowing enemy actions, and weakening enemy actions.

Paralyze and Jubaku, if they take effect, are outstanding. The issue is that “if” part. A paralyzed enemy will have some percentage of regular melee attacks and spell casts interrupted. The same is true for activation of Killer Effects, particularly Undead Killer for Paladins. The Bash line of abilities has a high success rate, but long recast timers. Stun certainly lives up to its name, and its 45 second cooldown can be reduced, although the spell might be resisted depending on its target. Violent Flourish is yet another stun effect, but on a 20 second timer, reliant on Finishing Moves, with accuracy depending on monster level, the target’s magic resistance, and use of an Etoile Casaque.

When preventing enemy actions, we have to consider how often a spell or ability will function. Shield Bash is fine, once every five minutes. A continually applied Paralyze might stop one attack in ten or it might never process at all. Taken from this perspective, Elegy and other Slow effects are the most effective means of reducing damage dealt to a tank through status effects on the foe.

Reduction in attack speed can be considered a direct reduction in melee damage dealt to the tank, of course excepting TP move physical damage. But the benefits of slowing the opponent go beyond merely reducing incoming damage. More time between attack rounds means safer buffers on Utsusemi recasts, more time for the tank to cast any spell, and a generally lower level of stress all round. Best of all, Slow, or Slow II, or Jubaku: Ichi can be applied in addition to Elegy.

Just as consistently reducing the speed of an enemy’s attacks can be considered damage reduction for the tanks, so can consistently reducing the accuracy of an enemy’s attacks. Blind and Kurayami lower accuracy by a small amount over a long period of time, and Flash dramatically reduces accuracy for a very short time.

As for preventing magic damage, Silence is excellent. However, some foes should be left to cast rather than attack, especially if their pause to cast aids in kiting. Black Puddings on Mount Zhayolm are an excellent example of monsters that are not very dangerous when left to cast, but should not be locked into meleeing by Silence.

Bind should be mentioned, as it potentially prevents all damage to a tank, but that use is very specific based on monster location and fighting strategy. For that matter, Sleep or having the monster attacking someone else prevents all damage to a tank. More likely, Bind could stop an enemy from moving away from the tank during a sudden moment of Enmity imbalance. Since it is negated by damage dealt to the bound target, a better choice for this task might be Gravity. In that case, these spells are preventing damage from being dealt to someone other than the tank.

Damage Reduction is the next best thing after damage prevention. If you can no longer avoid getting hit, get hit for less damage. Combining damage reduction gear (to remove a percentage) and damage reduction spells (to subtract a flat amount) is very effective. Elemental resistance builds have a similar effect against special types of attacks, since a resist means a percentage reduction in damage.

Keep in mind if you can avoid getting hit to begin with, that is always better than taking damage and reducing the damage after the fact. Damage reduction gear should not take away from your use of the proper Haste+ gear, the correct JA enhancing gear, etc. So the issue here is primarily how much gil you can spare to spend on damage reduction gear. If you are taking absurd damage to begin with, to be sure, a percentage reduction can only go so far. But this should not be the case for tanks (if it is, talk to Izman – or someone – for help).

Along those lines, I’m not going to list out all the available damage down gear, or what jobs can use it, except to note that percentage damage reduction caps at 50% and RDM can get a surprising amount of physical damage reduction without a Defending Ring (44%) as can SAM (47%).

This is especially important if you suddenly realize:
Surprise! You’re the Tank!

Under ideal circumstances, Enmity is managed such that only the selected tanks are attacked by your enemy. Under ideal circumstances, AV can be defeated. One of these days I would like to play FFXI under ideal circumstances.

In the meantime, we have to deal with the reality that whoever has the most Enmity will be attacked. If that person is not a tank, “hilarity ensues”. In some situations this is acceptable, say to keep a monster moving between two targets, or perhaps you need to give a PLD who keeps getting interrupted time to cast Cure IV, or there is no tank in particular and every melee has some form of damage mitigation.

In most serious situations, however, anyone other than the tanks being targeted is problematic. When hate gets reset and Long-Bowed Chariot starts taking out the backline, that’s not exactly “everything going according to plan”. Every player should have a protective just-in-case equipment macro, in addition to casters who idle in such gear to begin with. Idling Tarutaru Black Mages shouldn’t load up on Zenith Gear and pretend to be playing Ghosts ’n Goblins.

The first thing to ask is “can you afford to lose TP?” and for most mages this should not be a problem. (BLU is always damaging those mage generalizations.) For melees, though, the answer will depend on current TP values, your hits-to-100TP, and whether you are deciding between zero TP and zero HP.

So long as TP can be reset, your emergency macro should include an Earth Staff. HQ is fine if you already have one, but since Terra’s does not offer any more physical damage reduction,¹ don’t buy the HQ just for this purpose. Unless the name of FFVI’s stalwart heroine makes you feel safer.

The other should-have item for mages (including BLU this time) is a Cheviot Cape, which offers physical damage -5% during the day and -10% at night. The more expensive Umbra Cape is -6% and -12% respectively. In an extreme emergency (which is probable if you are using this gear macro) WHM, BLM, and SMN have latent earrings for use at or under 25% HP which reduce all damage taken. BRD, DRK, and RNG have the same for physical damage only; RDM and SAM for magical damage only.

Don’t neglect a Jelly Ring for free and a Defending Ring for winning Mog Bonanza, although the former is detrimental if you are taking magic damage and will require some time spent in Bostaunieux Oubliette.

--

This week's...

Most Valuable: Elegy wins hands down, and stacks with the Slow effect. Elemental Seal ensures the song landing and Troubadour will increase duration. If you use Soul Voice this is absolutely brutal.

Ignored Ability: Two this week.

The Blue Magic Cocoon increases defense by 50%. A self-only spell, this can raise defense past the display limit of 999. Against swarms of low level or weak-hitting enemies, I’m sure you can find a use for this – if you leveled BLU at all.

The use of Waltzes to transform TP into HP is outrageous for a PLD/DNC, which basically gets HP from being hit, and the main job’s naturally high VIT and CHA boost the HP recovery even more. The Enmity gained from this constant self-curing may allow for its utilization in bizarre situations.

Hazard Symbol: When the tanks die. Don’t die, tanks.

Overworked and Underpaid Job: Popular opinion indicates PLD is the former and NIN is the latter. Taking into account available gear, damage mitigation techniques, and job abilities, both jobs are very powerful and useful, but they’re not necessarily equal. Whether this is a bad thing depends on who you ask.

--

We’ve taken a look at how enemy attacks can be halted entirely, tanks can control damage taken, and even how anyone who comes under fire (or Tiamat’s aerial attacks) can survive. Over the past four weeks we’ve discussed a number of ways for players to multiply their impact on the battlefield. In that time a wide variety of interesting concepts came into play, but not all were discussed in detail.

Why could Dancer benefit from slower attacks? Should you have an algorithm for playing Corsair? What’s the best way to Haste an entire party? How is a meaningful comparison to be made between different Phalanx casters? Do Summoners have a reliable way to increase damage per MP spent? Next week, we'll start to answer some reader concerns and address specific spells and abilities, before moving on to melee-centric topics.

Until then, keep your graphing calculators handy!

Notes:

1. The HQ staff does have 25% more VIT than an Earth Staff, that is, it has VIT+5 instead of VIT+4. But both are "Physical damage taken -20%".

Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Do you have an idea for a future article? Please leave a comment.

<i>Every Thursday Araelus is bringing the science to FFXI.</i><b> </b><br /> <br /> <b>The Math of Sword and Spell</b><i> is dedicated not only to the hardcore calculations and statistics of FFXI, but more importantly to helping you use that math without confusing you. You may not know why you are playing better, but rest assured you will be playing better.</i><br /> <br /> <i>This week's edition focuses on how Slow effects are a great boon to tanking, perhaps more than anything else. Also discussed are creative ways to increase Enmity, reduce damage taken, and even use some unusual jobs for tanking, such as Black Mage.</i><br /> <br /> Last week, we discussed some of the ways White Mages and Scholars can benefit the whole party, as well as taking a critical look at Dancer and Summoner (especially in the comment thread). This week we take a break from support jobs and examine the difficult but crucial role of tank. Whether Paladin, Ninja, or something out of the ordinary, tanks are called upon to focus damage from the enemy to a well-defended target: themselves.<br /> <br /> In order to preserve some kind of game balance, not everyone takes damage equally well. What should a designated tank focus on in available gear? What might they ask the party to do in assistance, and how can you help a tank stay alive, besides curing? What can those predisposed against tanking do to make up some of the difference when targeted? Should I try to avoid stepping on Izman’s toes in this article?<br /> <br /> <span class="fullpost"><u style="font-weight: bold;">“Preventing Damage Outright”</u><span style="font-weight: bold;"> might as well be the slogan of Utsusemi, and clearly not taking damage is the best way for a tank to keep on going. But h</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ow about preventing the attack entirely?</span><br /><br />If you remember back to the start of this column, three categories of effects were mentioned which could be described as benefiting everyone in the fight since they helped the tank: stopping enemy actions, slowing enemy actions, and weakening enemy actions.<br /><br /><i>Paralyze</i> and <i>Jubaku</i>, if they take effect, are outstanding. The issue is that “if” part. A paralyzed enemy will have some percentage of regular melee attacks and spell casts interrupted. The same is true for activation of <i>Killer Effects</i>, particularly Undead Killer for Paladins. The <i>Bash</i> line of abilities has a high success rate, but long recast timers. <i>Stun </i>certainly lives up to its name, and its 45 second cooldown can be reduced, although the spell might be resisted depending on its target. <i>Violent</i> <i>Flourish</i> is yet another stun effect, but on a 20 second timer, reliant on Finishing Moves, with accuracy depending on monster level, the target’s magic resistance, and use of an Etoile Casaque.<br /><br />When preventing enemy actions, we have to consider how often a spell or ability will function. Shield Bash is fine, once every five minutes. A continually applied Paralyze might stop one attack in ten or it might never process at all. Taken from this perspective, <i>Elegy</i> and other <i>Slow</i> effects are the most effective means of reducing damage dealt to a tank through status effects on the foe.<br /><br />Reduction in attack speed can be considered a direct reduction in melee damage dealt to the tank, of course excepting TP move physical damage. But the benefits of slowing the opponent go beyond merely reducing incoming damage. More time between attack rounds means safer buffers on Utsusemi recasts, more time for the tank to cast any spell, and a generally lower level of stress all round. Best of all, Slow, or Slow II, or Jubaku: Ichi can be applied in addition to Elegy.<br /><br />Just as consistently reducing the speed of an enemy’s attacks can be considered damage reduction for the tanks, so can consistently reducing the accuracy of an enemy’s attacks. <i>Blind</i> and <i>Kurayami</i> lower accuracy by a small amount over a long period of time, and <i>Flash</i> dramatically reduces accuracy for a very short time.</span><br /> <span class="fullpost"><br />As for preventing magic damage, <i>Silence</i> is excellent. However, some foes should be left to cast rather than attack, especially if their pause to cast aids in kiting. Black Puddings on Mount Zhayolm are an excellent example of monsters that are not very dangerous when left to cast, but should not be locked into meleeing by Silence.<br /><br /><i>Bind </i>should be mentioned, as it potentially prevents all damage to a tank, but that use is very specific based on monster location and fighting strategy. For that matter, <i>Sleep</i> or having the monster attacking someone else prevents all damage to a tank. More likely, Bind could stop an enemy from moving away from the tank during a sudden moment of Enmity imbalance. Since it is negated by damage dealt to the bound target, a better choice for this task might be <i>Gravity. </i>In that case, these spells are preventing damage from being dealt to someone other than the tank.<br /><br /><b><u>Damage Reduction</u> is the next best thing after damage prevention. If you can no longer avoid getting hit, get hit for less damage. Combining damage reduction gear (to remove a percentage) and damage reduction spells (to subtract a flat amount) is very effective. Elemental resistance builds have a similar effect against special types of attacks, since a resist means a percentage reduction in damage.</b><br /><br />Keep in mind if you can avoid getting hit to begin with, that is always better than taking damage and reducing the damage after the fact. Damage reduction gear should not take away from your use of the proper Haste+ gear, the correct JA enhancing gear, etc. So the issue here is primarily how much gil you can spare to spend on damage reduction gear. If you are taking absurd damage to begin with, to be sure, a percentage reduction can only go so far. But this should not be the case for tanks (if it is, talk to Izman – or someone – for help).<br /><br />Along those lines, I’m not going to list out all the available damage down gear, or what jobs can use it, except to note that percentage damage reduction caps at 50% and RDM can get a surprising amount of physical damage reduction <i>without a Defending Ring</i> (44%) as can SAM (47%).<br /><br />This is especially important if you suddenly realize:</span><br /> <span class="fullpost"><b><u>Surprise! You’re the Tank!</u></b><br /><br />Under ideal circumstances, Enmity is managed such that only the selected tanks are attacked by your enemy. Under ideal circumstances, AV can be defeated. One of these days I would like to play FFXI under ideal circumstances.<br /><br />In the meantime, we have to deal with the reality that whoever has the most Enmity will be attacked. If that person is not a tank, </span><span class="fullpost">“</span><span class="fullpost">hilarity ensues</span><span class="fullpost">”</span><span class="fullpost">. In some situations this is acceptable, say to keep a monster moving between two targets, or perhaps you need to give a PLD who keeps getting interrupted time to cast Cure IV, or there is no tank in particular and every melee has some form of damage mitigation.<br /><br />In most serious situations, however, anyone other than the tanks being targeted is problematic. When hate gets reset and Long-Bowed Chariot starts taking out the backline, that’s not exactly “everything going according to plan”. Every player should have a protective just-in-case equipment macro, in addition to casters who idle in such gear to begin with. Idling Tarutaru Black Mages shouldn’t load up on Zenith Gear and pretend to be playing <i>Ghosts ’n Goblins</i>.<br /><br />The first thing to ask is “can you afford to lose TP?” and for most mages this should not be a problem. (BLU is always damaging those mage generalizations.) For melees, though, the answer will depend on current TP values, your hits-to-100TP, and whether you are deciding between zero TP and zero HP.<br /><br />So long as TP can be reset, your emergency macro should include an Earth Staff. HQ is fine if you already have one, but since Terra’s does not offer any more physical damage reduction,¹ don’t buy the HQ just for this purpose. Unless the name of FFVI’s stalwart heroine makes you feel safer.<br /><br />The other should-have item for mages (including BLU this time) is a Cheviot Cape, which offers physical damage -5% during the day and -10% at night. The more expensive Umbra Cape is -6% and -12% respectively. In an extreme emergency (which is probable if you are using this gear macro) WHM, BLM, and SMN have latent earrings for use at or under 25% HP which reduce all damage taken. BRD, DRK, and RNG have the same for physical damage only; RDM and SAM for magical damage only.<br /><br />Don’t neglect a Jelly Ring for free and a Defending Ring for winning Mog Bonanza, although the former is detrimental if you are taking magic damage and will require some time spent in Bostaunieux Oubliette.</span><br /> <span class="fullpost"><br />--<br /><br />This week's...<br /><br /><b>Most Valuable:</b> Elegy wins hands down, and stacks with the Slow effect. Elemental Seal ensures the song landing and Troubadour will increase duration. If you use Soul Voice this is absolutely brutal.<br /><br /><b>Ignored Ability:</b> Two this week.<br /><br />The Blue Magic Cocoon increases defense by 50%. A self-only spell, this can raise defense past the display limit of 999. Against swarms of low level or weak-hitting enemies, I’m sure you can find a use for this – if you leveled BLU at all.<br /><br />The use of Waltzes to transform TP into HP is outrageous for a PLD/DNC, which basically gets HP from being hit, and the main job’s naturally high VIT and CHA boost the HP recovery even more. The Enmity gained from this constant self-curing may allow for its utilization in bizarre situations.<br /><br /><b>Hazard Symbol: </b>When the tanks die. Don’t die, tanks.<br /><br /><b>Overworked and Underpaid Job:</b> Popular opinion indicates PLD is the former and NIN is the latter. Taking into account available gear, damage mitigation techniques, and job abilities, both jobs are very powerful and useful, but they’re not necessarily equal. Whether this is a bad thing depends on who you ask.<br /><br />--<br /><br />We’ve taken a look at how enemy attacks can be halted entirely, tanks can control damage taken, and even how anyone who comes under fire (or Tiamat’s aerial attacks) can survive. Over the past four weeks we’ve discussed a number of ways for players to multiply their impact on the battlefield. In that time a wide variety of interesting concepts came into play, but not all were discussed in detail.<br /><br />Why could Dancer benefit from slower attacks? Should you have an algorithm for playing Corsair? What’s the best way to Haste an entire party? How is a meaningful comparison to be made between different Phalanx casters? Do Summoners have a reliable way to increase damage per MP spent? Next week, we'll start to answer some reader concerns and address specific spells and abilities, before moving on to melee-centric topics.<br /><br />Until then, keep your graphing calculators handy!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 78%;">Notes:<br /><br />1. The HQ staff does have 25% more VIT than an Earth Staff, that is, it has VIT+5 instead of VIT+4. But both are "Physical damage taken -20%".</span><br /><br />Questions? Concerns? Did I take a logarithm when I should have used the antiderivative? Do you have an idea for a future article? Please leave a comment.</span>